Patterns and correlates of binge drinking trajectories from early adolescence to young adulthood.

Latent growth mixture modeling was used to identify developmental trajectories (described in terms of demographics, exposure and resistance to a pro-drug environment, and deviant behavior) of binge drinking among 5,694 individuals who completed 6 surveys from ages 13 to 23 years: nonbingers (32%); moderate stables (37%), who had consistently low levels of bingeing; steady increasers (16%), who increased from the lowest to highest level of bingeing; adolescent bingers (9%), whose early rise in bingeing was followed by a decrease to a moderate level; and early highs (6%), who decreased from the highest level of bingeing to a moderate level. Results show considerable diversity in binge drinking patterns and the correlates of bingeing across trajectory classes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How trajectories of reasons for alcohol use relate to trajectories of binge drinking: National panel data spanning late adolescence to early adulthood.

Developmental changes in both alcohol use behaviors and self-reported reasons for alcohol use were investigated. Participants were surveyed every 2 years from ages 18 to 30 as part of the Monitoring the Future national study (analytic weighted sample size N = 9,308; 53% women, 40% college attenders). Latent growth models were used to examine correlations between trajectories of binge drinking and trajectories of self-reported reasons for alcohol use across young adulthood. Results revealed developmental changes in reasons for use and correlations between the patterns of within-person change in frequency of binge drinking and within-person change in reasons for use. In particular, an increase in binge drinking between ages 18 and 22 was most positively correlated with slopes of using alcohol to get high and because of boredom. Continued binge drinking between ages 22 and 30 was most strongly correlated with using alcohol to get away from problems. Almost no moderation by gender, race, college attendance, employment, or marital status was found. Binge drinking and reasons for alcohol use traveled together, illustrating the ongoing and dynamic connections between changes in binge drinking and changes in reasons for use across late adolescence and early adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reducing depression among at-risk early adolescents: Three-year effects of a family-centered intervention embedded within schools.

The Adolescent Transitions Program (ATP) is a family-focused multilevel prevention program designed for delivery within public middle schools to target parenting factors related to the development of behavior problems in early adolescence. The current study examines the effects of the ATP on the development of youth depressive symptoms across early adolescence in a sample of 106 high-risk youths. Youths were recruited in 6th grade, and selected as high risk based on teacher and parent reports of behavioral or emotional problems. Depression symptoms were based on youth and mother reports in 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. Receipt of the family-centered intervention inhibited growth in depressive symptoms in high-risk youths over the 3 yearly assessments compared with symptoms in high-risk youths in the control group. Results support the notion that parental engagement in a program designed to improve parent management practices and parent-adolescent relationships can result in collateral benefits to the youths' depressive symptoms at a critical transition period of social and emotional development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School-based prevention of depression and anxiety symptoms in early adolescence: A pilot of a parent intervention component.

Previous studies suggest that school-based cognitive-behavioral interventions can reduce and prevent depressive symptoms in youth. This pilot study investigated the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral depression prevention program, the Penn Resiliency Program for Children and Adolescents (the PRP-CA), when combined with a parent intervention component. Forty-four middle school students and their parents were randomly assigned to the enhanced PRP (the PRP-CA plus parent program) or control conditions. Students completed measures of depression and anxiety symptoms at baseline and 2 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year after the intervention ended. The combined version of the PRP significantly reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety during the follow-up period. Children assigned to the intervention condition were less likely than controls to report clinical levels of anxiety symptoms. Findings suggest that school-based cognitive-behavioral interventions that include parents may prevent depression and anxiety symptoms in early adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bully Busters abbreviated: Evaluation of a group-based bully intervention and prevention program.

The present study sought to examine the efficacy of an abbreviated version of the Bully Busters program, a psychoeducationally based group intervention and prevention program designed to increase teacher's knowledge and use of bullying intervention skills, as well as teacher self-efficacy in intervening with bullying so as to subsequently effect change in the school climate. Teacher-participants attended seven group sessions designed to provide them with exposure to the didactics of the model, as well as to engage them in active learning, role-playing, and cognitive and emotional processing of their experiences of the impact of bullying behaviors on their teaching efficacy as well as the school climate. Materials and experiences from these groups were then taken to the classroom and implemented with the student-participants vis-à-vis classroom exercises. The findings suggest that an abbreviated group-based version of the Bully Busters program can have positive effect on teacher reports of efficacy in intervening with bullying behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social influence and selection effects in the context of smoking behavior: Changes during early and mid adolescence.

Objective: This article examined the contribution of selection and influence processes in smoking behavior similarity among friends, and changes in these processes during early and mid adolescence. Design: Data from 1886 Dutch high school students in the control group of the European Smoking prevention Framework Approach (ESFA) study were used. Changes in selection and influence were examined during three successive waves using structural equation modeling. Main Outcome Measures: Smoking behavior of adolescents, best friends, parents, and siblings. Results: Most support was found for selection of reciprocal (pwave1,2,3 wave1,2 wave3 = 0.25), although these effects decreased over time. Support for influence was only found among nonreciprocal (desired) friends during the last wave (pwave3 wave2 wave1,3 > 0.05) and siblings (pwave1,2 wave3 = 0.16), but influence diminished over time. Conclusion: Smoking-based selection processes decreased over time while the influence of friends increased. Smoking prevention programs should focus on the structure of peer environments besides promoting social influence skills. During early adolescence parents and siblings should be targeted, while during mid adolescence, the focus should shift toward the adolescents and their dynamic peer environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)